Harnessing the learnings of MGNREGS |
India’s livelihood landscape is highly diverse and complex, shaped by varied agro-climatic conditions and unequal access to natural, human, and economic resources, knowledge, technology, and markets. Nearly 70 per cent of rural households depend on agriculture, with 83 per cent being small and marginal farmers. There is a huge scope of improvements in productivity enhancement, access to resources, irrigation and rural infrastructure, and market access constrain incomes, calling for targeted investments and participatory approaches to build resilient livelihoods.
Launched in 2005, MGNREGS guaranteed the right to work by providing at least 100 days of assured wage employment per household annually, while creating durable assets for livelihood security. Through Gram Panchayat-centred participatory planning, it has demonstrated the model of “Today’s Wages – Tomorrow’s Livelihoods”. Large-scale asset creation under MGNREGS, particularly through landscape-based, community-led natural resource management, has strengthened productive assets, livelihood and income security, and household capabilities. The High Impact Mega Watershed Project in Chhattisgarh demonstrated sustainable pathways to enhance smallholder incomes while conserving land and water resources.
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In Western Odisha, the Migration Project reduced distress migration by providing an additional 200 days of wage employment (from the state’s budget) and strengthening local livelihoods through land and water development. Jharkhand’s Birsa Harit Gram Yojana transformed landscapes through plantation-based interventions led by Gram Panchayats and women’s collectives. More recently, Madhya Pradesh created over 85,000 farm ponds under the Jal Ganga Samvardhan Abhiyan,........